Freedom House 2022: Cape Verde is the freest country in Africa

Cape Verde is the freest country in Africa and remains on the list of the freest countries in the world, according to the Freedom House 2022 Report, published this Thursday. According to data released by this NGO, Cape Verde had an average score of 92/100, the same achieved last year. We are the first in Africa, soon followed by Mauritius and São Tomé and Príncipe. At the top of the list worldwide, continues Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Freedom House describes Cape Verde as “a stable democracy, with competitive elections and periodic transfers of power between rival parties. Civil liberties are generally protected,” but access to justice, they say, “is hampered by an overburdened judicial system, and crime “remains a concern.” Other outstanding issues include “persistent inequalities for women and migrant workers.”

Regarding Political Rights, our country was evaluated very positively, reaching the maximum score, 4/4. They consider that both the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, as well as the Members of the National Assembly were elected, pointing out the international observers who followed the elections in Cape Verde and who evaluated them as being largely free and fair.

“The legal framework provides for fair and competitive elections. The National Election Commission (CNE), whose members are elected by a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, is generally considered impartial. African Union observers praised the performance of the CNE in its report on the October 2021 presidential elections”, reads the document when talking about the Political Rights of Cape Verdeans.